27% of Canadian Consumers Say They Always Feel Concerned about Their Safety, Security

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Canada ranks as slightly less worried than the average among 21
countries in new GfK global research

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In just-released GfK research, almost three in ten (27%) Canadian
consumers report that they are “always concerned” about their safety and
security1 – five percentage points below the
global average (32%). Canadian respondents were also slightly more
likely (11% versus 10%) to disagree strongly with that statement.

According to the GfK survey of 21 countries, people in Brazil, Mexico,
Turkey and Russia have the highest levels of worry; these are the only
countries surveyed where more than half of consumers agree strongly –
choosing “6” or “7” on a scale of 1 to 7 – with the notion of always
feeling concerned about their safety. This anxiety is most pronounced in
Brazil – about to host the 2016 Summer Olympics – where roughly
two-thirds (64%) expressed the highest level of worry about their safety
and security.

On the other hand, Sweden, Germany and Netherlands have the highest
levels of perceived safety and security. These countries are the only
ones surveyed where less than 15% of consumers strongly agree with the
idea of always being concerned about safety – ranking them well below
the global average (32%).

Canadian women more concerned about security than men

Looking at the difference between genders, Canadian women are a little
more worried about safety and security than men — 29% for women versus
24% for men. These figures are below the global averages of 30% for men
and 34% for women who agree strongly that they are always worried about
safety and security.

Age has minimal impact on safety concerns

Among the different age groups in Canada, people 40 to 49 years old
expressed the most anxiety about their safety and security, with 31%
strongly agreeing that they are concerned. Other highly concerned age
groups are those 15 to 19 (28%), 30 to 39 (28%), and 60+ (27%). For
Canadians in the 20-to-29 and 50-to-59 age groups, the concern for
safety and security drops slightly below 24%.

Footnotes

(1) Bottom two boxes and top two boxes from a seven point scale, where
“1” means “disagree strongly,” and “7” means “agree strongly.”

About the study

The survey question asked: “Please indicate how strongly you personally
agree or disagree with the statement, “I am always concerned about my
safety and security,” using this scale where 1 means “disagree strongly”
and 7 means “agree strongly.”

GfK conducted the online survey with over 25,000 consumers aged 15 or
older in 21 countries. Fieldwork was completed in June 2015 and data are
weighted to reflect the demographic composition of the online population
age 15+ in each market. The countries included are Argentina, Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong
Kong, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain,
Sweden, Turkey, UK and USA.